By Chef Neil Magbnua
This month’s recipe is for you vegetarians out there, or those of you who are trying to eat more vegetables but are tired of steamed broccoli. Made known to the general population with the Pixar/ Disney movie of the same name, ratatouille is one of my favorite vegetable dishes to make and, quite frankly, the only way I’m willing to eat zucchini and yellow squash.
Let me start by saying that the following recipe is not traditional ratatouille. The original way of preparing this dish involves slicing the vegetables uniformly thin and cooking them slowly while covered with parchment paper. In today’s world, not many of us have time for that.
Ingredients
1 cup diced zucchini
1 cup diced yellow squash
1 cup diced eggplant
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced bell pepper
1 cup diced tomato
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup tomato juice
1 tablespoon dry herb blend (Herb de Provence or mix 1/3 tablespoon each of dry basil, dry oregano and dry thyme)
Directions
Before cooking, separate the vegetables into the following groups: Eggplant, onion and celery, zucchini and yellow squash, peppers and tomato. These five groups take different cooking times; pre-cooking grouping will help ensure they are done at the same time.
In a large sauté pan, start ½ cup of olive oil over high heat. Sweat eggplant for about 3 minutes. Lower the heat and add onions and celery and sweat for an additional 5 minutes. Add zucchini and yellow squash and sweat for another 3 minutes. Add peppers and sweat for an additional 3 minutes. Add tomato juice, dry herbs, and garlic, stir in thoroughly, then add tomatoes. Cook over medium heat until most of the liquid has evaporated.
To brighten the flavor, you may add a little red wine vinegar to taste. Garnish with fresh basil or any fresh, leafy herb of your choice (I wouldn’t recommend cilantro, though). Season with salt and pepper.
This vegetable “stew” is good as a side dish with meat or hearty fish or can be thrown together with your favorite pasta. Good luck and good eating.
Neil Magbnua is chef at Arroyo Grille at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes.
This column appears in the February issue of InMaricopa.
